The Might & Magic series was once a rich and engulfing RPG
experience. Today, it's about as rich and deep as troll poop.

The Might & Magic series, as of late, makes the Tomb Raider series
seem innovative.

Personally, I liked Might & Magic VIII the first time I played it,
when it was called Might & Magic VI.

Oddly enough, we've seen three Might & Magic titles in the last
three years. Why so long between each game? I don't know about
you, but garbage pickup is once a week where I live.

I've got a million of them folks and I'll be playing Vegas all week!

Seriously though, I'm not going to waste many brain cells writing a
lengthy review about Might & Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer
simply because it's just not worth the time. Like an aging wizard,
the Might & Magic franchise seems to have lost its vision. Like a
guest on the Oprah Winfrey show, the Might & Magic franchise is in
need of a makeover. And like the Tennessee Titans after their
Super Bowl loss, I got nothin'!

The story goes a little something like this: The world of Enroth has
fallen out of balance with the rest of the cosmos and as a result,
the gateways to the elemental planes have been opened, freeing
the forces of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The age of peace appears
to be coming to an end and the age of destruction or death is upon
us. It is up to you to form a party of heroes that will unite the
human and monster races of the world in time to launch a joint
effort to save Enroth from planetary extinction.

What we've got here is your basic 'the end of the world is coming'
plot with a twist. The twist is that there doesn't appear to be any
twists. It's a linear story that goes nowhere fast and by the time you
reach the midway point of the game, you realize the cause just
doesn't seem worth fighting for anymore. Day of the Destroyer is
like any of the previous Might & Magic titles, or any RPG for that
matter; you fight creatures; earn experience; upgrade your
character and their abilities; purchase new equipment, spells and
skills; and complete a series of side quests as you move forward in
your attempt to thwart the almighty power that threatens the
player's existence.

Everything in Day of the Destroyer seems borrowed or re-used from
previous Might & Magic titles. The engine remains the same, so the
graphics are extremely outdated. The sound effects are nothing
new and the overall presentation remains relatively the same (not
that the interface was ever bad to begin with). The gameplay also
remains the same. Hack 'n' slash your enemies, break and enter
into NPC houses in order to find extra equipment, and 'interact'
with NPCs so you can go on quests. Of course, you can never truly
interact with NPCs. Like a bad actor in a stage play, they seem to
follow the script to a tee and rarely have anything interesting to
say other than 'Bring me blickity blop, and you'll be well
rewarded'. Gee Mr., thanks for the great conversation, I feel better
just having talked to you.

Is there anything new in Day of the Destroyer? Yes. I'm happy to
say that you start the game by selecting your character's class.
There is seven classes in total: Troll, Minotaur, Vampire, Dark Elf,
Knight, Necromancer and Cleric. There's also an eighth class,
Dragons, but you can't begin the game by choosing such a class.
You'll have to wait till you come across one in your adventures
who is willing to join your party in their mighty quest. So, at least
there's one good thing to build on in (gulp!) future Might & Magic
titles. The only other big difference between Day of the Destroyer
and previous Might & Magic titles is that there are many creatures
beyond the cities that won't attack you. As I said before, it's the
age of peace so many of the creatures live in harmony with
humans. It's only the creatures that have been brought to the
planet via the portals that are evil and deadly. If you wish to kill
such non-violent creatures, you can certainly do so, but it's no
longer required.

Unlike previous Might and Magic titles, there are no more safe
zones apart from the towns where you can run and hide. Also,
shooting creatures at long range will now bring a retaliatory
action. If you played Might & Magic VII, you'll remember that you
could shoot creatures at long range without worrying about them
seeing and attacking you. It's good to know they've knocked out
these two annoying bugs.

The bottom line: same old, same old. Might & Magic VIII: Day of
the Destroyer is the worst in the series to date. The engine is
painfully old, the story is as original as a disaster movie and worse
of all, this game is the opposite of addictive. I'm extremely
disappointed with the Might & Magic series of late, having been a
fan of the earlier titles, so I wish New World Computing well in
their future efforts. There are two more Might & Magic titles slated
for future release and with the LithTech engine in their hands,
hopefully the series will catch a second wind.